Furniture spring structure



Sept. 19, 1944.

R'. c. HEIM ERDINGER FURNITURE SPRING STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 30, 1942 a a v Patented Sept. 19, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT carries FURNITURE SPRING vSTRIJ'GII -U RE.

Robert C. Heimerdingcr, Chicago, 111., assignor to Greggory, Inc., Chicago, -Ill., a co'rporation of Illinois Application October 30, 1942, Serial No. 463,878

4 Claims. (Cl. 155-179) The present invention relates to furnituresuch v variety of articles of furniture, and particularly as ,a substitute for coiled springs in .supporting upholstery; to provide animproved spring structure for furniture and the like, which almost .completely eliminates the need for metal in its composition; and to provide animprove-d spring structure of this :kind whichcan be made almost wholly of fibrous material.

A preferred embodiment-of the invention is 'illustratedin the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in perspective .of an end or side portion of :the frame for a chair, davenport, or the like, showin examples .of the novelspring structures incorporated .in -the.seat.and-back thereof.

Rig. 2 is a-detail in perspective with parts bro- :ken away, of a. sheet of laminated fibrous mazterial .of suitable composition to be adapted for -forming or shaping it into :the spring structure :elements contemplatedxherein.

Fig. 3 .is .an edge view of azunit spring structure .and portions ofithe supporting frame show- ;inga preferred form of the spring .for use in :theseat of the furniture article.

Fig. :4 :is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the .manner .in which the spring elements may yield when subjected to the weight of an occupant seated thereon.

1 .Fig. "5 is a detail plan, illustrating a suitable arrangement of the seat springunit in an elongated article of furniture such as .a davenport, settee, or the like.

. Fig. 6 is a detail in side elevation, of an arrangement of cooperating spring elements inthe .back rest of'an article .of furniture.

The .drawing-isto be understood as being more .or less 'schematic'for the purpose of disclosing atypical or preferred embodiment of this invention. l The material from which the spring structure is fabricated is .a laminated sheet preferably comprising alternating layers or plies A, B and Col fibrous materials adhesively secured together as lengthwise of the sheets. The wood veneer is of the well-known .type that is formed by slicing .a continuous ribbon from the periphery 10f a .log rotated .on a longitudinal axis in a lathe. The kraft paper is preferably the type known ascylinder .kraft wherein the grain is characterized by relatively long :fibers. .-In assembling the three plies above-mentioned, it is desirable that the grain of the veneer ply A be disposed transversely of the strip or substantially at right anles to the long fibers .of the .kraft .paper facing '.plies-,BC, in the manner indicated in Fig. 2.

The material of. the spring, prior to being shaped, .is preferably .an elongated rectangular member with the long fibers of the outer ,ply kraftpaper or .other materials disposed lengthwise of the strip and with thegrain of the veneer disposed in .the direction of the width of the strip.

The frame of the article .of furniture .shown in Fig. '1, comprises longitudinall .dispose'd front .and rear .rails 10 and -|I,,'respecti-ve1y, that are joined .at their ends by transverse end rails 12 to form a rectangular openframe. Uprights J13 rise from the forward or from; corners .of this -open frame and backwardly curved uprights f4 ;an integral board or plate. .In-a preferred form rise from the rear corners-of said frame. "I hese latter uprights I13 and H and their connecting .cross bars t5 and T6 are variously shaped to conform to the requirements of any particular design of the finished article,

An elongated horizontally disposed rail H extends between and is connected at its ends to the upper .portions of the rear uprights l4, and another or lower rail I8, parallel with rail 11, extends between and is. connected at its .ends .to the rear uprights l4. These rear uprights I4 and the horizontal connecting rails l1 and I'll forman open rectangular frame for the back -mem'berof the article of furniture, just as'the front and rear rails 11] "and Ill andthe' end rails .IZ form an open (frame for the seat member of the article. l J

The horizontal rails I1 and T8 of the .back member are joined by relatively narrow spring member .1901? the fibrous material which has been hereinbefore described. These strips 19 are arranged side by side in spaced relation .to .each other, as shown in Fig. 1, with their ends connected 'to the respective rails in a suitable man- .ner. Prior to assembly with the-backframe', the laminated strips 19 are shaped and treated by a suitable process to'give them a permanent form-retaining set with at least one looped .end. As shown in Figure 1, the major portion of a strip I9 is provided with a forwardlyclonvex bow and the upper end portion is more isharply curved to form arelatively wide open loop bend 2 0 which terminates in a straight terminal portion '2! to lit fiat against the rear face. of the upper rail 19 of the back frame to which it is secured. r

The loop bend is arched up forwardly from the back rail I! so that the bowed body portion is spaced from said rail and is free to flex for comfortable support of the occupants back.

One or more strips l9.l of suitable flexible ma-,

terial may be woven across the medial portions ofthe spring members l9. These strips l9.l may be of a suitable webbing or tape, or they may be lengths of the same laminated fibrous material, and they are laced alternately in front of and back of the successive spring members [9.

In the form shown in Fig. 1, a group of three of the members [9 would occupy a space approximately corresponding to a seating unit space for The seat structure is supported upon parallel slats 22, extending between the end rails l2, and

'spaced inward of the front and rear rails l0 and II.

Mounted onthe slats 2'! are a series of similarly formed seat spring units, each comprising as illustrated inFigures 1, 3 and 4 an S-shaped member 23 having reversely curved open loops 24 at its opposite ends and a seat plate member 25 overlying the S-shaped member 23 and spanning thespace between the loops 24. These spring structure units are preferably'of a width such that two of them placed side by side and spaced apart will occupy a unit-seating space for an adult person.

: 1 With three-ply material, such as is illustrated j in Fig. -2, it is found that the spring members 23 will have sufficient strength, if made up of two strips of the laminated material laid one upon the other.

A single strip of the material will serve for the seat plate member 25 in a chair but for a .davenport, the strips 25 may be either single or double but it is preferred that at least the outeradjacent the arms of the davenport-should be stiffer than the intermediate ones so as to tend to prevent the occupant of the end-seating section from being tipped toward the side arms.

- The seat plate members 25 preferably extend forward and back sufilciently far enough to overhang the loops 24, as illustrated, and the front edge of each seat plate is reinforced by a wooden cleat26 which preferably is in such position as to overlie the front rail HIv so as to engage the latter and serve as a limit stop for the yielding of the spring structure under excessive strain, such as might happen if aperson should step upon and place his entire weightnear the front edge of the seat.

In the form shown, the seat plates are fastened to the S-shaped members by screws 21 which pass through perforations in the laminated sheets and engage cleats'28. Similarly, screws 29 and cleats 30 are used to fasten the lower portions of the loops 24 to the slats 22.

' The cleats 28 and 30 are preferably of a length corresponding to the width of each unit spring I structure but the reinforcement 26 is preferably a bar ,of wood that extendsthroughout the series mally in alinement with each other. A similar bar 3| ties the seat members together at a point in front of the rearward loops 24 and accordingly extends throughout the length of the series.

Although but one specific embodiment of the invention is herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.v

I claim:

l. A furniture spring structure comprising superposed members of laminated material, each member comprising a plurality of plies of fibrous sheet material integrally united to each other, the said superposed members being permanently bent in longitudinal vertical section to an S-shape disposed generally in a horizontal direction, cleats extending along the terminal transverse end edges of'said loops adapted to unite the superposed members for simultaneous flexing movement, other superposed members of lami- ,most ones of the series,that is those which are of seat members and holds their front edges nornated fibrous material constituting a body support overlying and secured to upper portions of the aforesaid S-shaped element adjacent the loops thereof, and means anchoring the lower portions of the loops of said S-shaped element to a furniture frame.

2. The combination with a rigid frame comprising a pair of fixed parallel horizontal bars, of a spring element comprising a plurality of plies of fibrous sheet material integrally united to each other and permanently set to S-shape and secured crosswise to both said bars so as to form an upward bowed U-shaped end portion and a downwardly bowed U-shaped end portion with an inclined intermediate portion connecting the upper limb of one U-shaped, portion to the lower limb of the other U-shaped portion, and a seat plate above said spring element and fixed thereto at the upper limbs of said U-shaped portions.

3. The combination. with a rigid frame comprising a pair of fixed parallel horizontal bars, of a spring element comprising a plurality of plies of fibrous sheet material integrally united to each other and permanently'set to S-shape and secured crosswise to both said bars so as to form an upward bowed U-shaped end portion and a downwardly bowed U-shaped end portion with an inclined intermediate portion connecting the upper limb of one U-shaped portion to the lower limb of the other U,-shaped portion, and a seat plate above said spring element and fixed thereto at the upper limbs of said U-shaped portions, said seat plate extending beyond the U-shaped portion at one end, and said frame having abutment means positioned to be engaged by and limit the downward movement of said seat extension.

4. The combination with a rigid frame comprising a pair of fixed parallel horizontal bars, of a plurality of spring elements, each comprising a plurality of plies :of fibrous sheet material integrally united to each other and permanently set to S-shape and secured crosswise to both said bars so as to form an upward bowed U-shaped end portion and a downwardly bowed U-shaped end portion with an inclined intermediate portion connecting the upper limb of one U-shaped portion to the lower limb of the other U-shaped portion,

an individual resilient flexible seat plate above each said spring element respectively and fixed thereto at the upper limbs of said U shaped portion, and a cleat parallel to said first-named bars and respectively fixed to each said seat plates to tie the latter together.

ROBERT C. HEIMERDINGER. 

